BENGHAZI, Libya – Egypt's eastern-based parliament has called for elections to be held early next year, after it backed out of a United Nations brokered peace deal with rival authorities in the capital, Tripoli.
In an open letter to the country's electoral commission released late Tuesday, the Tobruk-based House of Representatives requested the national election commission make "all the necessary arrangements to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections before Feb. 2018," citing the Libya's ongoing "difficult situation" and "political struggle."
The body earlier voted to withdraw its support for the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, an escalation that stoked concerns recent violence could intensify.
The decision comes days after breakaway militias backed by western Libyan factions seized oil terminals from the east's strongman general, whose forces have vowed to retake them.
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